


Born on the Web

by thecarlonethatalsowrites



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gert/Karolina Brotp, Mutual Pining, Side Gert/Chase, youtube au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-02-28 13:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13272627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecarlonethatalsowrites/pseuds/thecarlonethatalsowrites
Summary: Karolina is a semi-successful YouTuber who becomes sensational when she posts her coming out video. Nico Minoru runs a channel she thought was at least on par with her not-rival. That is until a certain video skyrocketed her popularity. Neither actually thought they would meet in real life, let alone feel things.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so hyped for this pairing. I was thinking about the show's modern teenager angle and this happened. Enjoy!

Karolina fussed with her setup, more nervous than usual to begin filming. She straightened out her script, triple checked her lighting, and tucked her hair behind her ears. On second thought, maybe it should be free. No, only tucked on one side. Should she pull it back in a ponytail or something?

“Get it together girl,” she muttered to herself, knowing she was only stalling. She planted her hands on the edge of her desk, squeezing until the wood cut into her skin. Only then did she pull them away, flexing her fingers and examining the deep indentations on her palms. “Now or never. You’ve got this.” Before she could psych herself out any further she reached around and pressed record on her camera.

“Hey, everybody!” Karolina said with a little wave to the camera. “So today’s video is going to be a little different than most. Usually, I take some time to answer some questions on Twitter during my Thursday videos, but today I just have something personal to share.” She glanced down at her script briefly though she didn’t really need to. She’d prepped this speech for hours — had it memorized for days.

“So, this has taken a lot of soul-searching and sleepless nights, but I’ve finally worked through enough stuff to be able to say this.” Deep breath, then, “I’m gay.” The instant she said it, a wave of relief flooded over her. She’d only managed to say it once before, and it was so much easier the second time around.

“It actually explains a lot, and I’m just really grateful that I’ll finally be able to live my truth even better than I have before. At least on the internet. I’m still working up the courage to start telling people face to face, but that’s what this video is about. I don’t care who knows. I  _ want _ people to know. So I’m taking this first step by telling all of you.”

The longer she spoke, the easier it was for Karolina to open up. Technically she knew that she wasn’t speaking to a live audience, but with the way her heart was racing it sure felt like she was. 

She barely remembered finishing up the video, and before she knew it she was waving goodbye and reaching forward to turn off her camera. Stunned, Karolina slouched back in her seat, staring blankly at the wall. It was done. She said it.

“I said it!” She squealed before launching herself out of her chair for a victory dance that involved a ton of arm flailing and jumping up and down. “I said it, I said it, I said it!” She repeated over and over again.

When she began to run out of breath, she launched herself onto her bed and scooped up her phone. She rolled on her back as she typed in the passcode and pulled up her messages.

**Kare Bear 3:48**

I did it!!!

**Yo-Gert 3:49**

!!!!

Before Karolina could respond her phone buzzed with an incoming call. She picked it up before it could ring twice.

“You did it!” Gert said from the other end of the call. 

“I did,” Karolina said, unable to get the stupid grin off her face.

“I’m so proud of you. Not only are you staying on brand with your truth, but you’re also sticking it to stereotypes and the overwhelming culture of heterosexuality so pervasive on the internet,” Gert said. Karolina lifted her phone from her ear and put Gert on speaker while she spoke. She set her phone down on her bed near her face.

“Well, not yet. I still have to edit and post it. But it felt so good just saying it and I’m psyched!” She ran one hand through her hair. “I couldn’t have done it with the most PC friend I’ve ever had.”

“Usually PC is an insult, but in this case, I’ll take the compliment.” Karolina could practically hear the smirk in Gert’s voice. “I’m just finishing the final edits to my video. You have to post yours first so I can link it in my promo. My followers are going to go nuts.”

“Well, here’s to hoping that I break the internet,” Karolina said, only half joking. 

She worried slightly about backlash, since many of her followers were religious fanatics following her for her involvement with her mom’s church. But her demographic was mostly teenagers rooting for living their truth. Her being gay wasn’t off brand, because her brand was Karolina.

“Oh, trust me you will. Especially when you get a girlfriend,” Gert said, bringing Karolina out of her thoughts.

“Come on, Gert. I know we live in L.A. but considering my dating history I don’t think that’s going to happen as soon as you think it will,” she said, rolling onto her side to face her phone and propping herself up on one elbow.

“When you become a YouTube sensation you’ll have girls lining up to date you,” Gert responded. “Just don’t leave your poor, politically active best friend in the dust when you have more followers than you know what to do with.”

“Oh don’t worry,” Karolina chuckled, “you’ll be getting promos till the end of time for everything you’ve done for me.”

“And everything is right with the world,” Gert sighed. “Alright, I’ll let you get to editing. Send me the link when you’ve posted.”

“Will do,” Karolina said before tapping her phone and ending the call. She laid still on her bed for a moment, allowing the past few minutes to sink in. 

She still couldn’t actually believe that she actually filmed a coming out video that she was going to share with the entire internet. She had a backup video in case she lost her nerve, but Karolina had a feeling that this was a long time coming and her nerves would remain steely through the editing and posting process.

Which she really needed to start right now if she wanted to make her deadline in...four hours. Usually Karolina never left anything but the most minor of edits until her post days. She justified it this time that this was an especially stressful video that had to have a lot of thought put into the pre-production.

Karolina sat up and shot a glance at her computer sitting on her desk. All her nervous energy at the prospect of editing made her hands shake somewhat. She clenched and opened her fists repeatedly to return some of the steadiness to them. It didn’t take very long, and after a few deep breaths Karolina stood up and walked to her computer. She sat down and began her work.

* * *

“Hey, Karolina.” Frank gave her one of his blinding smiles he only reserved for the cameras or her. Karolina couldn’t help but smile back.

“Hi, Dad,” she said, walking to her seat at the dinner table. “What’s for dinner?” She pulled out her chair and sat as he began to speak.

“Lasagna. Your mom’s on a call about the press tour, so she said we could go ahead and eat. How big a slice do you want?” He picked up the spatula and gestured to the pan resting on the hot pads in the center of the table. 

“That’s good,” she said when he outlined the size she wanted. He scooped it out for her and she lifted her plate close to the pan so the sauce wouldn’t drip on the table.

“Did you have a good day? Do anything fun?” His words shot a bolt of fear through Karolina. She spent the day making her coming out video, and this anxiety was exactly why she decided to do it in video form rather than face to face. 

“Not really,” she said as nonchalantly as possible, all her nerve spent earlier that day.

Luckily her mom came into the kitchen just then, distracting Frank from asking any more questions.

“I swear, that is the last time I’m taking a nonessential work call ten minutes before dinner,” Leslie said, placing her phone down on the counter before taking a seat at the kitchen table. 

“Reporters giving you trouble again?” Frank asked, cutting out a piece for his wife.

“You have no idea,” Leslie said. “Thank you, dear.” They exchanged a smile when Frank slid it onto her plate. “I just hung up on them. Told them I’d call back after dinner.”

“Well, we’re glad you could join us,” Frank said.

Karolina stayed quiet while her parents carried most of the conversation. Dinner was weird because it wasn’t weird. Karolina had just shared a completely life changing video with the entire internet and her parents had no idea. 

It wasn’t like she expected them to watch it, definitely not within an hour of posting it, but somehow she thought she would have one big coming out that she used up making the video. Still, her parents had no idea and acted as if nothing changed. Karolina was a little disappointed that her video wouldn’t be the end all be all of her coming out and she still had a long way do go.

“Karolina, you’re being so quiet,” Leslie pointed out by the time Karolina had finished her dinner. She looked up from her plate, somewhat dazzled.

“Oh. Yeah, I guess I’m just tired,” she said, carefully resting her fork on her plate. “Actually, may I be excused?”

“Yes, of course.” Karolina stood up so fast she nearly knocked over the table. She took her plate to the dishwasher, avoiding her parents gazes the whole time until she scurried out of the kitchen. 

Even as she climbed the stairs, the back of her neck still tingled with the feeling of their eyes, though she was well out of sight. She shut her bedroom door firmly, then leaned against it and let out a heavy breath.

Her parents were living under the assumption that everything was the same as it was the day before, unaware that Karolina had just taken one of the most important leaps of her life. It would be nice to have some validation, you know?

Karolina sighed again and pushed herself off her door. She flopped onto her bed, her elbow knocking against her phone. She scooped it up to check through her messages. Maybe in the world that knew her she could shake her unhappiness.

**Yo-Gert 6:53**

Kar, you HAVE to check your video

**Yo-Gert 7:20**

Hello? Are you alive?

**Yo-Gert 7:23**

If you are, pls reply. I’m begging

**Yo-Gert 7:28**

KAROLINA CHECK YA DAMN YOUTUBE CHANNEL

* * *

“Yo,” Nico greeted Alex, who was already seated at their usual table. 

“Hey, Nico.” He looked up from his laptop screen as he spoke. He even tilted it halfway closed, which Nico quirked her eyebrows at. Alex never looked up from his computer for anyone, let alone closed it. He ducked his head at her stare, realizing too late what she was thinking. “I already ordered like five minutes ago.”

“Sweet,” she said, letting his attempt at diffusing the tension succeed. She let her bag slide of her shoulder and hung in on the back of the chair she sat on. “The usual?”

“As usual. Should be up any minute,” he said just as the barista called his name.

“I got it,” Nico said as they both stood up at the same time. Alex frowned slightly, but sunk back into his seat. 

Nico retrieved their drinks, holding them delicately due to the heat, and delivered Alex’s to the table several inches from his hand and plenty far from his laptop. Neither of them wanted a repeat of what happened when Chase accidentally spilled his latte all over Alex’s keyboard. It still worked, but the computer would never be the same and Alex’s parents refused to buy him a new one unless he worked for it. They were trying to teach him about responsibility, which sucked because it wasn’t his fault the laptop was ruined in the first place.

“Thanks,” Alex said, carefully maneuvering the mug so the handle was within easy reach. He took a long sip, eyes still intent on his screen, which he tilted back up when Nico left. 

“No problem,” Nico said, leaving her own drink be. She preferred having feeling in her mouth as opposed to Alex, who had probably burned off all of his taste buds with the way he always drank his coffee boiling. “Any new projects you’ve been working on?”

“Not really, just the usual. Oh, dammit!” He cursed, tapping a single key repeatedly on his keyboard. “Can I borrow your laptop? Mine just died, and I’m really running short on time to finish this report. This keyboard is  _ not _ helping, either.”

“Sure.” Nico fished her computer out of her bag and slid it toward Alex. “I have a charger, too. I’ll plug yours in.” He flashed her a grin as he booted up her laptop. 

Nico grabbed her charger and was in the process of untangling it when Alex gasped loudly.

“You’re subscribed to Karolina Dean?” He exclaimed with wide eyes flicking between Nico and the computer screen. She must have left her YouTube open on her browser.

“She has cool videos,” Nico said to defend herself. “Plus we have similar channels. With the religion aspect, I mean. It’s not that weird.”

“Wicca and the Church of Gibborim are about as different as you can get,” Alex scoffed. “You make videos about makeup and witchcraft. She talks about living the truth and astrology. Although,” his eyebrows shot up as he scrolled through what Nico assumed was her channel. “It looks like that’s not all she talks about.” He spun the laptop around so Nico could see what was on the screen.

There, Karolina Dean’s most recent upload amongst the rest of her channel. Nico took a moment to curse YouTube’s tracking system, certain that Alex was totally judging her for having watched the majority of the videos on the channel, before focusing on the title below a thumbnail of Karolina’s bright smile.

“‘My coming out video’,” Nico read out loud. She directed a shocked glance at her tablemate. “She’s gay?!”

“Apparently. Unless this is some clickbait for better views,” Alex said.

“One way to find out,” Nico said, digging headphones out of her bag so they could hear the video over the noisy café. She plugged them in and handed one bud to Alex before clicking on the video.

They both watched with rapt attention, which was easy since the video was less than four minutes long. Karolina Dean was pretty succinct compared to other coming out videos Nico had seen. 

She finally zoned out during the last twenty seconds when Karolina promoted her channel and social media, taking her earbud out as the video ended. She shot a look at Alex, unworried about escaping a second, autoplay video. Nico wasn’t an animal — she turned off that feature the instant it came out.

“So...that was legit,” Alex said at last. He looked back at the screen and his eyes bulged comically. “Holy shit. She posted this yesterday and it already has 8,000 views.” Nico’s jaw dropped slightly. That was more than double what her videos usually got in the first day. It was especially impressive since she and Karolina had a similar number of followers and, until now, viewers.

“I guess what they say is true. The best way to be YouTube famous is to be a funny animal, mega hot, or gay,” Nico said when she finally picked her jaw off the floor.

“Or be a gamer with all the latest consoles,” Alex added.

“Give it up, dude.” Nico rolled her eyes. “You’re stuck with your nerd brigade of subscribers.”

“My  _ loyal _ nerd brigade.” He placed a hand on his chest in mock offense. 

“Yeah, whatever. They’re still nerds.” She reached over and shoved his shoulder to let him know she was teasing. If her words were a little too mean, well, he kind of deserved it. She wasn’t going to get too torn up about it.

“Did you finish untangling your charger? There’s a plug right behind me,” Alex said. Nico’s hand flew to the cord she only half detangled. 

She pushed it to Alex despite its state and he plugged it in, only untangling it enough for it to reach Nico’s side of the table. Alex had claimed her laptop for himself and Nico sighed as she waited for his to boot up. She didn’t want to deal with his sticky keys, but it wasn’t like she had a report to type up. Or any real work to do at all. She’d let it slide this time.

“Maybe you should make one of those videos,” Alex said after a few minutes of silence, filled only with the sounds of his typing and the background throb of café chatter.

“What do you mean?” Nico asked, looking up from Alex’s computer, which had finally started up.

“A coming out video. To compete with Karolina,” he said. “You said it yourself. You’re both on the same side of YouTube competing for the same followers. She’s kind of your rival.”

“We’re not actually rivals.” She was only justifying following Karolina, not that she would ever admit it out loud. “Besides, sell myself for popularity?” Nico scoffed. “I’m good. Karolina may be fine with it, but I don’t want being bi to be a publicity stunt.”

“Nico, you literally already sell yourself for popularity,” Alex pointed out. Nico took in a breath to argue, but he continued as though anticipating her very words. Which he probably did. “I know you have your whole dont-give-a-fuck persona-that’s-not-a-persona—”

“Exactly,” Nico interrupted. “I trick people think I don’t give a fuck when I really do. They eat that up. It’s marketing,” she tapped a finger to her temple, “and it’s genius. If I make a coming out video it’ll seem like I actually care what people think instead of just doing what I want. Which is why people follow my channel in the first place.”

Alex shook his head “That sounds like way too much work. Especially if you’re trying to pretend that you’re not putting in a lot of effort.”

“Hey, whatever man. It works.” Nico tapped his sticky keyboard, trying to type in YouTube’s url and praising whoever came up with autofill browsing. Oh, wait that was her mom. Guess she was good for something.

Nico signed out of Alex’s channel and logged into her own. She glanced up at Alex to find him completely engrossed in his work. He likely wouldn’t look up again for a while, if the look on his face was anything to go by. Nico had time to do whatever she wanted, if she was brave enough to. 

She worried the inside of her cheek as she opened her viewing history and clicked on her most recently watched video after making sure Alex’s laptop was muted. Without bothering to pause the video, she scrolled down to the comments section and began the arduous process of typing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, this chapter took forever to write. I'm not totally happy with the result, but it's the best it's going to be. I'll try to get on a better updating schedule after this :)

In one day, Karolina’s coming out video overtook her previously most popular video by more than double. In a week, her subscribers nearly tripled. Gert’s subscribers apparently went nuts and promoted the hell out of her. It felt as though she fell asleep one night and woke up an internet sensation.

Which was exactly what Gert was saying to her right now. “I mean, ten thousand views on two videos in one week? Each? This is so awesome, Karolina.” She gripped the edge of their small table and shook it slightly in her enthusiasm.

“Yeah, it’s great,” Karolina managed, but it was half-hearted at best. She was barely listening to Gert. Instead, she leaned her head on her hand and stared out the window they were seated next to.

“What is up with you? I thought this was what you wanted?” Gert sounded genuinely concerned. “If you’re worried about feedback, it’s too late to take it back.” Karolina dropped her hand and turned her gaze to Gert.

“I’m not worried about that. It’s just...I thought I would have to do it once and then I could live my gay life in peace. And yes that was a pun,” she said when Gert quirked her eyebrow and grinned.

“Well are you worried about your parents? They still haven’t seen it yet, right?”

“Yes,” Karolina groaned and her head sank down to the table.

Gert just put her finger on the very problem. When Karolina first created her channel as a way to connect to younger members of her Church, her mom would check up on it every once in a while to give suggestions about content and feedback on her videos. But eventually the channel took off well enough that Leslie decided her check ins were unnecessary and left Karolina to her own devices. She still wasn’t used to such responsibility and lived with the hope that her mom actually did check on her but didn’t say so. Apparently, she was telling the truth when she told Karolina she was doing fine on her own.

“I’m sorry,” Gert said. Karolina raised her head to see Gert’s sympathetic grimace. “I know they’re who you really need to reach with that.”

“It’s alright,” Karolina said. “I’m just impatient I guess.”

“Understandably.” Gert glanced over her shoulder. “Hey, the bathroom’s open. Give me a minute and then we can talk about this as much as you want.” She stood and stormed through the coffee shop. People leapt out of her way and she reached the bathroom seconds before a guy who had been eyeing it almost as long as Gert had. Since it was the only bathroom in the place, it was in high demand. Gert grabbed the handle and glared up at  the guy until he backed away and the bathroom was hers.

Karolina had to laugh to herself at her friend’s aggressiveness. Gert didn’t look very intimidating, but Karolina was certain she could successfully threaten half the people at their school, including a few of the teachers. She was sure Gert would rather do so than talk to any of them.

In order to pass the time until Gert returned, Karolina pulled out her phone to scroll through Instagram absently. It was mostly drivel until she came across Gert’s most recent post — a selfie of her with her therapy dog promoting adopt not shop. The comments drew her attention and she quickly tapped on Gert’s profile in order to confirm her suspicions. An incredibly smug look came across her face when she did.

“What do you look so happy about? Did someone kidnap Karolina and replace her with a clone? Because when I left you were Gloomy McGloom Face,” Gert said as she pulled out her chair. Karolina didn’t notice her approach, she was so engrossed with Gert’s post.

“Why didn’t you tell me that Chase thirst followed you?” She asked, grinning all the while. Gert’s face went red and her mouth opened and closed a few times as she formulated a response.

“He didn’t thirst follow me,” was all she came up with.

“Oh yeah? Then why did he comment on all your selfies up to three months ago?”

“He’s a loser and a weirdo.” Gert crossed her arms defensively and slouched in her chair.

“‘A great cause with the face of a beautiful lady. I’m in.’ ‘Well said. Can always count on you to speak the hard truth.’ This one is just heart eyes,” Karolina recited some of the comments Chase left.

“Whatever. He moved and we never were anything anyway,” Gert said.

“He’s still in L.A. And don’t tell me you were never anything, I know there’s more you aren’t telling me but I won’t press you on because I’m a great friend.” Karolina put her elbows on the table and leaned her face into her hands. “But if you wanted to I’d love to hear it.”

“Ugh, can you just drop it?” Gert shouted. The people around them abruptly stopped their conversations to see what the commotion was and Gert glared at them until they looked away. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Alright. But a wise social justice warrior once told me that keeping feelings bottled up was a recipe for an emotional meltdown,” Karolina said.

“I hate when you turn my words back on me,” Gert grumbled. “Besides, I’m sure he has a whole new life at his new school and doesn’t have time for me because that’s exactly what happened here.” Karolina shot her a sympathetic look.

“He obviously didn’t know what he had until it was gone. Whoever’s out there for you is going to be really lucky,” she said. Gert looked up from the table she was glaring holes into.

“Thanks Karolina,” she said. “Although I don’t subscribe to the idea that I need another person to complete me.” Karolina laughed.

“There’s the Gert I know,” she said. Gert smiled a little.

“She never left.” A notification from her phone made her look down again, and she pulled it out of her pocket. “Um, quick question. Why are Minoruacs tweeting about you?”

“Minoruacs? Those are Nico Minoru’s followers, right?” Karolina asked. Gert nodded in confirmation. “How do you know they’re tweeting about me?”

“I have that Wizard Analytics thing set up. It sends me a notification every time certain keywords are trending,” Gert explained.

“Aww, and you monitor for me?” Karolina pressed her hand to her chest. “I didn’t know you cared.”

“Shut up. I’m just making sure you aren’t getting more buzz than me. Although, I think you might have to start worrying about being cursed or something.”

“Why? Are they saying bad things?”

“I don’t know, the notifications don’t tell me what they’re saying. But it’s safe to assume that when a rival fandom starts tweeting about you that’s not necessarily a good thing,” Gert said. 

Gert unlocked her phone and opened twitter, holding it flat so Karolina could watch what she was doing upside down. She searched for Karolina’s handle, and aside from a few church related tweets most of the icons Karolina could see were dark shapes she couldn’t make out because Gert was scrolling too quickly.

“What are they saying?” Karolina asked.

“I don’t even know how to describe this,” Gert said, shaking her head at her phone. “But I think they’re shipping you.”

“What? Shipping me? Why? And with who?” Karolina pulled out her own phone, too impatient to wait for an answer she could find for herself.

***

**Nerd King 12:38**

Whatever you did your followers are freaking out

**Morticia Addams 12:53**

What are you talking about?

**Nerd King 12:55**

Have you checked Twitter?

**Nerd King 12:55**

You need to check Twitter

Nico sat up and swung her legs over the side of her bed. She felt the strain in her eyes fade as she moved the screen to her lap, a much more comfortable distance than the few inches she held it while laying on her back. 

She closed out of her messages and tapped the Twitter icon. After impatiently waiting for the app to load, Nico had to blink a few times to confirm she wasn’t seeing things when it finally did. She would have rubbed her eyes if she hadn’t already spent so much time doing her makeup.

Her entire twitter feed was crammed with hashtag and emoji filled tweets from her fans, the self titled Minoruacs. The eyes emoji seemed to be particularly prevalent as well as the heart eyes emoji and some repeated hashtag — deanoru.

“What the fuck is a deanoru?” Nico asked out loud. The tweets were mostly illegible, even to an internet guru like herself, so she typed out the question and sent it off to Alex.

**Nerd King 1:04**

Haven’t you heard of shipping before? 

**Morticia Addams 1:04**

Yes I’ve heard of shipping before

**Nerd King 1:05**

Deanoru is the ship name for you and Karolina Dean

Nico screwed up her face in confusion. She’d never even talked to Karolina before, so why was she being shipped with her? She was about to ask Alex when another text came in.

**Nerd King 1:07**

They’re obsessing over something about a Youtube comment? Do you know what they’re talking about.

Oh. Oh no. She thought no one read Youtube comments besides creators. And besides, it was  _ one  _ innocent comment. One! A comment that Nico had no idea how people interpreted it to be romantic in any way whatsoever.

**Morticia Addams 1:10**

Ok, these people are CRAZY. No idea what happened…

**Nerd King 1:11**

Ummmm kinda sounds like you do

**Morticia Addams 1:12**

Shut up. I have to figure out how to fix this and if you’re not going to help…

Though she waited several minutes, Alex didn’t text her back. Nico scoffed. Fine then. She could figure this out by herself

***

Nico could not figure this out by herself. It was three hours later and she was really wishing that Alex had any suggestions because she had none at all. She hoped he wasn’t pissed — she didn’t think he was the type of guy to be petty about her moving on from him, especially since they only dated for two weeks and were friends now — but the lack of communication wasn’t pointing to any other conclusion.

Instead of being proactive, Nico paced around her room, three laps tapping her phone against her palm, three laps typing and deleting debunking tweets, and three laps glaring at her phone after she threw it on her bed. Then she would scoop it up and start the cycle all over again.

She knew shipping was a thing on the internet, which was one of the reasons she avoided talking about Alex on her channel when he was her boyfriend, but she never expected to be shipped with someone she didn’t even know. Now she had to do some major damage control, hopefully before Karolina Dean saw any of this mess.

But what could she do? It wasn’t like Nico could shut down the internet, which at this point was the only way to stop this. Once it was out there people had a way of clinging to and even expanding things.

Nico groaned and flopped face first onto her bed. Her pillows muffled another, louder groan, and she was momentarily grateful that her sheets were black and wouldn’t be stained by any stray makeup. Maybe if she suffocated herself this problem would go away.

A notification from her phone made Nico turn her head so her cheek was pressed to her pillow instead of her whole face. When she read the notification she shot upright.

_ Instagram: karo.dean has sent you a message request. _

Uh oh. Nico didn’t think she’d see the hashtags so quickly. The edges of her vision blurred as she hyperfocused on her phone screen, barely remembering to breathe as her chest rose and fell rapidly. Should she open it? What could Karolina possibly have sent her? Nico’s hands shook as she hovered over the home button, debating with herself whether to open the message or ignore it. She chose the former and nervously unlocked her phone, sliding along the notification so it would take her directly to Instagram

**karo.dean 4:15**

Hey

That was it? What was she supposed to say to that? Nico wracked her brain for an appropriate response, confused at the message she received. Slowly, she typed out a reply, 

**sistergrim 4:26**

Hello

**karo.dean 4:28**

Ok so I sent that message with no plan in mind and I have no idea what to say now

**sistergrim 4:30**

At least you’re honest

**karo.dean 4:31**

One of my best qualities 

**sistergrim 4:39**

I assume you messaged me because of deanoru?

**karo.dean 4:43**

Alright, whew. I’m glad you said it because I had no idea how to bring it up

**sistergrim 4:45**

I’m so sorry if my followers made you uncomfortable. I swear I didn’t purposefully say anything

**karo.dean 4:48**

Don’t worry about it, I know how people can get :)

**karo.dean 4:49**

I did see your comment on my video, though

**sistergrim 4:50**

UGH it was so cheesy

**karo.dean 4:52**

No! It was nice

**sistergrim 4:53**

Well, I’m glad you liked it

Nico grinned down at her phone. Karolina saw her comment. Despite the rivalry Alex ribbed her about, she’d never actually talked to Karolina before. Now they’d had an entire conversation, and  _ Karolina saw her comment _ . Nico was downright ecstatic

Her good mood didn’t last for long, however. The sound of her mother’s approaching footsteps deflated it with every clack of her heels. Nico’s smile dropped off her face just as her mother began speaking.

“Nico, are you in here?” Tina asked, opening the door without knocking. Nico glared at her mother and shot upright, tucking the hand that held her phone under her pillow and out of sight.

“Are all parents required to never knock, or is that just something you do in particular?” Nico shot back. Tina’s eyes narrowed. A year ago Nico would have cringed at that look. Now she squared her shoulders and mirrored it.

“I was coming to tell you that I have to run into the office and probably won’t be home until late,” Tina said. She paused, and Nico was surprised she stopped there. “If you want to go anywhere, don’t.” Ah, there it was. 

“Wasn’t planning on it,” she muttered under her breath. Her mother apparently wasn’t in the mood for a fight, because her usually bat-keen hearing failed and she strode away from Nico’s room, leaving the door wide open. Nico scowled, and when she heard the front door close got up and shut her own door with a click. She stalked back to her bed and sat with a huff. Her vision started to tunnel and the skin of her face throbbed in her rage.

A ding from her phone distracted her before her anger peaked into being uncontrollable. Nico reached under her pillow to retrieve it, thumbing the screen to bring it to life. Her mood took a complete 180 when she saw that she had new messages from Karolina. With a grin, she opened Instagram and started typing up a response.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...season 2 amiright?

“And then Eiffel was totally...Karolina, are you listening?” Karolina’s head jerked up from her phone, catching Molly’s accusing stare.

“Yeah, absolutely!” She lied through her teeth. Molly’s eyebrows rose and Karolina sighed. “Not really. But I am now!” She pressed the power button to turned off her phone, tucking it between her thigh and the couch before turning attentively to Molly.

They were sitting in Molly and Gert’s family room, supposedly filling the time while waiting for Gert get home after her social justice club so they could all go see a movie in a few hours. But as much as Karolina loved Molly, she couldn’t quite give her 100% of her attention when her phone was blowing up with Snapchats from Nico. Even now, she felt her phone buzz twice as she received another series of pictures.

“I was talking about how I completely owned Eiffel on Instagram, but even I’m not interested in that anymore,” Molly said. “What the heck has you so attached to your phone? You’re never glued to it like this.”

“Karolina has a giiiirlfriend,” Gert drawled teasingly, appearing from nowhere and making Karolina jump as she draped her arm over Karolina’s shoulders. She didn’t hear Gert come in and thus was unprepared to fend off her friendly brand of teasing.

“I do not!” She protested, pushing Gert off of her and feeling her cheeks heat up. “I’m very interested in hearing how Molly trounced Eiffel.”

“Ugh, that hateful bitch,” Gert jeered. For a grand total of two seconds, Karolina thought she was in the clear. But she forgot to count Molly’s persistence and inner romantic.

“A girlfriend?” She asked. Karolina did  _ not _ like the smirk that came across her face.

“No! Gert is  _ lying _ ,” she glared at Gert.  _ I can’t believe you’ve done this to me _ .

“Me? Lie? Never.”  _ Believe it, Dean _ .

“Spill, Karolina.” Molly leaned forward on the couch, her elbows planted on her knees. She stared down Karolina, who never could manage to resist the younger girl’s soul-searching looks. Karolina groaned and threw her head back against the Yorkes' couch in an effort to fight Molly’s stare. But just because she couldn’t see it didn’t mean she couldn’t feel the intense focus, coming from Gert now as well as Molly.

“It’s just Snapchatting,” Karolina mumbled, still laser-focused on the ceiling.

“I knew it!” Gert exclaimed, and Karolina’s head snapped forward to glare at her. She  _ was  _ lying. “What? I’m not above manipulating you for information.”

“Nice,” Molly said, reaching over for a high five which Gert eagerly granted. She blanched somewhat when the action drew Karolina’s glare to her as well. “Hey, don’t look at me like that. You’re the one who’s Snapchatting someone. We’re obligated to grill you on that.”

“Well said.” Gert nodded approvingly. “Now spill.”

“I hate when you two team up on me,” Karolina grumbled. Gert and Molly retained their impassive stares until Karolina cracked under the pressure. “Ok, fine! Gert, don’t roast me, but I’m Snapchatting Nico.” Her words drew a ridiculously overdramatic gasp from Gert. Her eyes widened and she grinned so broadly Karolina was worried her face would split open.

“Oh, this is good. Molly, we need popcorn,” Gert said.

“You do not. And it’s not anything. Nico’s just cool, we’re cool,” Karolina said.

“You don’t sound cool,” Molly teased. “You sound totally  _ uncool _ .”

“The master of cool has spoken,” Gert said, making Molly laugh. “Karolina Dean is,” she paused dramatically, “uncool!”

“Urg, I hope not,” Karolina groaned. “That would be a problem because Nico  _ is _ cool.”

“Wait, is this the Nico Twitter is shipping you with?” Molly asked as Gert let out a long “ooooh.”

“Maybe?” Karolina winced at her own unsure tone. 

“Wow, Twitter is right about something for once,” Gert said thoughtfully.

“It’s just Snapchatting,” Karolina groaned, flopping over onto the couch. That was a mistake since she exposed her previously protected phone. She realized her mistake too late when Molly, ever the agile opportunist, darted forward and snatched it before Karolina could. Giggling all the while, she handed it over to Gert, who quickly unlocked it.

“You have five Snaps from Nico,” she informed Karolina with a smirk. Karolina shot up and launched herself at Gert, trying to get her phone back. Molly, who was still laughing, intercepted her and football tackled her to the ground. Karolina’s breath whooshed out of her as they hit the floor, and she cursed at Molly and her disproportionate strength with the little air she had left.

As Karolina and Molly wrestled on the ground, Gert tapped through the Snaps from Nico, describing each one out loud as well as giving commentary. She had to raise her voice to be heard over all the shouting.

“This one is a picture of her feet while she’s walking and it says ‘you seem like someone who likes Avril Lavigne’ which honestly is pretty savage. This one is a video of a dog she saw across the street. It’s freaking adorable. Now she’s making fun of hipsters, and probably you too. She’s mean, I approve.” Gert nodded with a genuine smile on her face. At that point, Karolina managed to get free of Molly and snatched her phone away before Gert could see any more of Nico’s Snaps.

“You two are the worst,” Karolina grumbled as her friends lost it.

“Aren’t you going to answer her?” Gert wheezed. Karolina glared at her for a few seconds but the pull of her unopened Snapchats proved too strong and she turned her attention back to her phone.

The first picture was of Nico, a quizzical expression on her face and the caption ‘are you there?’ The next was a blurry picture of the floor that said ‘sorry if this is all annoying spam.’

Karolina frowned at the fact Nico would even think that. No matter what she sent, Karolina wouldn’t think she was annoying. She took a quick picture of Gert, who still hadn’t quite regained her composure, and captioned it ‘she was holding my phone hostage. I love your Snapchats, especially that dog.’ Even though she didn’t actually see it and she was more of a cat person, Karolina was sure that it was very cute if Nico thought to send it to her. 

She only had to wait a few seconds for Nico’s reply — a black screen captioned ‘and you didn't murder her…?’

* * *

 

Nico wasn’t completely insecure. Fuck what other people thought was basically her motto. She didn’t need their approval, as long as she was happy with herself.

Karolina was the one exception to that rule. Nico worried her lip, anxiously waiting for a response to her series of snaps. She irritably stalked through the aisles of her favorite makeup store, forgetting what she was even there for. Why was eyeliner important when she might have pissed off Karolina?

So yeah, as a rule, Nico wasn’t completely insecure. But rules always had exceptions.

Damn those exceptions.

Just as Nico began her second lap around the store her phone buzzed with a Snapchat notification. Nico opened it with eager fingers, waiting impatiently for the app to load. The only bad thing about this store was that the signal in here was abysmal. It finally loaded and Nico tapped on Karolina’s snap. ‘She was holding my phone hostage. I love your Snapchats, especially that dog.’ Was typed over the image of a laughing girl with purple hair and glasses.

Nico felt an instant wave of relief at Karolina’s reassurance. She chose not to think too deeply about what that meant. 

Now that her worries were assuaged, she sent off a quick response. But something was nagging on her subconscious and she considered the subject of the picture Karolina sent. Her eyes widened as she was struck with a sense of recognition. She swiped on Karolina’s name and pulled up their text chat.

**Nico:** Is that codenamearsenic?

**Karolina:** Yes. I didn’t know you followed her

**Nico:** I don’t. One of my friends is completely obsessed with her

She hadn’t known Chase for long, but with the way he carried on about “his old friend, Gert” Nico had her suspicions about the nature of their relationship. Whatever they might have had seemed to have mostly petered out after Chase moved, something he seemed quite morose about. And Chase was like a puppy, in a weird sort of way. You’d do anything to keep a puppy from moping. Put her in all the thumb screws you wanted, Nico would never admit that thought to anyone. But once it had taken root she couldn’t quite get it out.

Nico tapped her palm with her phone, thoughts swirling in her head as the beginnings of a plan started to form. She received several dirty looks from other patrons for blocking a section of the shelf, though it didn’t seem like anyone was about to confront her about it. Nico was unconcerned as she unlocked her phone and opened up Snapchat again. 

**Nico:** Do you know her well? I’ve seen a few collab vids of yours

The text turned gray as Karolina saved it, a habit which at first seemed strange to Nico.

Now it gave them the perfect opportunity to scheme and bring Nico’s thoughts to fruition without losing any of their ideas. Not to mention Nico was already plenty used to it after several weeks of talking, and actually enjoyed scrolling up to re-read some of their conversations.

**Karolina:** Yeah, we go to school together

The message popped up and immediately grayed. Nico grinned, delighted at the opportunity that presented itself. She was so engrossed with her plan she walked right out of the store without buying anything, her nose in her phone and thumbs typing rapidly.

**Nico:** She wouldn’t happen to know a guy named Chase, would she?

**Karolina:** Know one? She’s been in love with one for years 

**Karolina:** Until he moved away and broke her heart

**Nico:** He goes to my school

**Karolina:** !!!!!

**Karolina:** Small world. I love the internet

**Karolina:** If you’re half the schemer I am, are you thinking what I’m thinking?

Nico chewed on her lip as she considered the message. The fact that Karolina was so instantly on the same page as she made the half-cocked plan in her head seem all the more plausible. An evil grin broke across her face. With Karolina working beside her, she didn’t see how they could fail. And then Chase would owe her to the end of time. And like, be happy or whatever.

**Nico:** I’m thinking we have our work cut out for us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a long, long wait on this one. My muse came back though, so I started writing again. The next chapter will probably take a while to write, but I have a direction so it WILL be coming. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!


	4. Chapter 4

**Karolina:** Hey, I’m on my way. Hope you’re bringing your smart brain because we have our work cut out for us

**Nico:** Are you implying that I usually don’t have my smart brain?  >:P

Karolina rolled her eyes affectionately at her phone as she descended the stairs. She used her free hand to swing herself around on the banister when she reached the bottom. Unfortunately, she was too involved in typing out a response to look ahead.

“Oof! Karolina, watch where you’re going!” Leslie cried as Karolina ran straight into her. She grabbed Karolina’s arm to help her regain balance.

“Sorry Mom,” Karolina said. She winced as she met her mother’s gaze. Leslie was stressed as hell getting ready to leave for her press tour. Karolina could see it in her eyes. As much as she loved her, she had to admit that Leslie Dean was a force to be reckoned with. A force Karolina did her best to avoid setting off.

“I swear you seem more addicted to that thing than usual.” Leslie glared at the phone in Karolina’s hand. Karolina clutched it to her chest, turning off the screen so Leslie couldn’t read what was on it. She wasn’t sure why she was so protective of her and Nico’s conversation but chalked it up to wanting to maintain the surprise for Gert and Chase. As she tried to think of a response, something rather genius came to her.

“Uh, yeah. My channel’s picked up a lot in the past few weeks,” she said, trying to stay nonchalant about it. Now would be a really good time to test the waters about the whole gay thing. It had been weeks with zero mention of it from either of her parents. At this point, it was getting pretty ridiculous they hadn’t seen at least a thumbnail of her coming out video. Karolina knew her parents were stressed about the upcoming press tour for their church. It still seemed odd to her that half an internet full of strangers knew something so huge about her that her own parents did not.

“Well, if you told me that earlier I might have canceled this tour.” Leslie’s mouth curved into a small smile, which was a pleasant break in her rather stern expression. “I’m glad to hear it.”

“Thanks.” Karolina shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Have you, uh, checked in on it recently?”

“Honey, I’ve been so busy with getting everything arranged for this tour I just haven’t had the time. But if it’s doing as good as you say it is then I don’t see the need to check in on it.” Leslie’s phone chimed right as she finished speaking. She groaned and looked at it anyway. Karolina choked back a laugh at her mom’s hypocrisy — just moments ago it was Karolina who was way too attached to her phone.

As she watched her mom shoot off a series of text messages, a battle waged within Karolina. At this point, she was beginning to think her parents would never see her coming out video, and she yearned to just get it over with right now. Another part of her was too chicken and hoped the video would do its job. Or, worst case scenario, one of her parents would notice something was eating her and initiate that whole conversation themselves.

It was wishful thinking. Leslie’s eyebrows scrunched together, all hints of serenity wiped away by whatever was on her phone. She was far too preoccupied to notice Karolina’s inner struggle.

“Sorry dear, I have to take care of this,” Leslie mumbled. She already took a few steps away from Karolina. 

She let her go without a word, feeling like another opportunity slipped from her grasp. It was hard to be mad since disappointment in herself was becoming the new norm. Besides, her phone buzzed with a Snapchat from Nico. Karolina’s mind fled entirely from her predicament with her parents. How could she be worried about that when she was about to meet up with Nico in person for the first time?

* * *

 

“You’re a lot shorter than I expected.” Nico scowled at Karolina’s opening line and Karolina immediately felt like stabbing herself in the eye.

“And people say you’re the nice one,” Nico said.

“Sorry, that was really — I mean this is kind of weird and I definitely didn’t mean to say that,” Karolina said. Her face felt like it was melting off.

“Hello probably would have been a good place to start.” Karolina wasn’t the only one floundering. Nico was having trouble looking her in the eye. “Why is this weird? We’ve been talking for weeks now.” 

Karolina laughed. “I mean, it would be weird if it wasn’t weird. We were strangers on the internet until a little while ago.” She had to clench her teeth together to keep herself from rambling. Nico just seemed so much...cooler than her. It threw Karolina off her game and she felt the need to compensate.

“Good point.” Nico cast her gaze over the moderately busy café. “Do you want anything to drink or should we find a table?”

“I think I’ll hold off for now. There’s an empty table right over here.” Nico dashed toward it almost before Karolina finished speaking. Karolina took a few long strides to keep up with her. They sat down next to each other. Karolina resolutely fidgeted with her bag, determined to keep her foot out of her mouth for at least another few minutes.

“Can we talk about how small world it is that we happen to have mutual friends, even though we’ve literally never spoken until recently?” Nico said.

“Crazy, right?” Karolina leaned forward, happy to have a conversation starter to latch onto. “And now we’re here to fix their lives.”

“Like the omniscient love gurus we are.” Nico rolled her eyes, her words laced with sarcasm.

“This is going to be a lot harder than we thought, isn’t it?”

“Most likely. I love him, but Chase is kind of a moron. He’ll be easy to manipulate, I just don’t know if he’ll understand the opportunity we’re handing him.”

“Hey, be nice,” Karolina said out of reflex. Her thoughts were elsewhere so she gave little effort at being offended on Chase’s behalf. “Gert is way too smart, she’ll for sure know we’re manipulating her. We have to be subtle.”

“People like to remind me I’m about as subtle as a sledgehammer.” Nico tugged on her black, fingerless glove, drawing attention to her dark attire that stood out in the bright café. Karolina waved off her fears.

“We balance each other. It’ll be fine. Probably.”

“Alright. So how do get them together forcefully enough to actually spark something without letting on to the fact that we’re directly involved? Suggestions?” Nico’s forefinger tapped the table as if to stimulate her thinking.

“Maybe we could trick them into going to a movie together or something?” Karolina suggested. Nico’s eyebrows drew together as she considered the idea.

“Seems a little obvious, and I doubt I could convince Chase to get there. No, it needs to be bigger where we can manipulate from afar or step in if things go sideways. Like a party. He’d for sure be down for that!” Karolina watched the light bulb go off behind Nico’s eyes, but her only reaction to the suggestion was dread.

She remembered the last party she went to with Chase, thrown by another Brentwood kid back when they still went to the same school. Well, remembered was probably a strong word for it. There was a lot of vodka and a lot of people, and Karolina had let loose during a time when all she knew was pressure. She danced until her skin was burning off and drank until her head was spinning. Somehow she ended up on the balcony to cool off. Chase was there too. Maybe he rescued her from the crowd, maybe he followed her. It was all blurry up, that is, up until he kissed her. That part she remembered crystal clear. Her first kiss — sloppy, eyes open, thinking for the first time the words  _ oh no, I’m gay _ after having suspected for some time.

“That’s actually not bad.” Despite the horrible flashbacks, Karolina had to admit Nico was on to something. Her memories were hazy and she was in a different enough place to know there was no chance of a repeat of that disaster. Especially not with their motives. “You know, my parents are going out of town in a few days. I could rope Gert into co-hosting one, which will guarantee she’ll be there.”

“And then we force them together from there.” Nico’s eyes sparkled as though she was already imagining their success. “Oh my god, we actually came up with something that might work.” 

“We are literal geniuses.” Karolina bumped her shoulder into Nico’s, unable to contain her grin. Her stomach flipped as Nico smiled back. Perhaps not as broadly, though from the hours of video Karolina watched of her she knew smiles from Nico were rare. This one felt like a victory, and on top of her confidence in their plan, Karolina felt like she was on cloud nine.

“I knew you were up to something!” The excited, familiar voice made Karolina jump. She whipped her gaze away from Nico to find Molly marching toward their table, grinning as wide as Karolina was moments ago. Karolina’s stomach dropped.

* * *

Nico watched Karolina’s smile fall off her face like a ton of lead. She scooched away and Nico was suddenly aware just how close they were sitting. Nico blinked a few times, trying to understand what just happened. One minute Karolina’s attention was on her, the next she was staring at a manic girl wearing a cat hat slamming her hands onto their table.

“Uh, hi Molly,” Karolina stuttered. As if responding to Nico’s inner monologue, her eyes flicked over to meet Nico’s. In a quick moment, she conveyed confusion. Karolina answered with a tiny shake of her head that didn’t tell Nico much. She decided it was best to follow Karolina’s lead on this since she at least seemed to know the girl. It was more than Nico had at the moment, and she didn’t want to give away anything they were planning. “What are you doing here? How did you find us?”

“Snapmap,” Molly said flippantly. She pulled out a chair across from Karolina. “You’re Nico, right? Karolina made me watch some of your videos. She hasn’t shut up about you for weeks.” Karolina’s cheeks turned red and Nico couldn’t decide which piece of information she was more thrilled about. Her concern about their plan getting leaked dissipated.

“Has she now?” Nico couldn’t help her smirk, pouncing on the opportunity to tease Karolina. It must have worked, as Karolina blushed harder.

“Anyway,” Karolina said, trying to steer the conversation into safer waters, “you’re not supposed to be here.” She jabbed an accusatory finger at Molly.

“Oh, right. Sorry.” She sent an exaggerated wink at Karolina. “Just be glad it was me and not Gert who found you. She’d lose her mind.” Karolina and Nico exchanged a panicked look, considering the hypothetical consequences. Molly was right, of course. That didn’t mean Nico was thrilled to be interrupted. “Relax, I’m not going to tell her. I’ll let Karolina do that.”

“Super.” Karolina gave a strained smile. “How did you even get here?”

“Lyft,” Molly answered. “But I used Gert’s credit card so can you give me a ride home?” Karolina sighed, looking pitifully at Nico.

“We’re pretty much done here,” Nico said. It wasn’t like they could flesh out any more of their plan with Molly here. “Text me the dates that work for you.” She hoped Karolina would understand the meaning behind her words.

“Yeah, sure.” Karolina slid off the bench and Nico hurried to follow. They stood awkwardly for a moment

“Don’t mind me,” Molly said, staring at them with her chin resting against her fist. Nico’s jaw clenched. She was trying to decide whether to go in for a hug or not when Molly added to her second-guessing. Her arms jerked as she thought about it, and though Karolina looked just as uncomfortable that was enough of a sign. She put her arms around Nico’s shoulders, giving her a quick squeeze. Nico barely had time to hug her back before she drew away.

“You good to get home?” Karolina asked.

“Yeah, I’m going to call a Lyft. You don’t have to wait up.” Nico waved her phone between them.

“Alright. See you soon.”

“And...you.” Nico gave a stiff, two-fingered salute that made her cringe. She wasn’t strong enough to stop herself, just as she couldn’t help but watch Karolina and Molly leave the café. 

Through the window, she saw Karolina punch Molly in the arm. Molly shrugged it off and punched her back, which seemed to hurt way more if the way Karolina rubbed her arm was any indicator. Nico chuckled at their antics as she unlocked her phone to call a car. Her original plan was to go straight home, but it occurred to her that there was one more stop she needed to make before then.

* * *

Nico climbed the stairs at Chase’s house with growing apprehension. His mom answered the door and the first thing out of her mouth was, “are you here to get my son out of his room for the first time in three days?” Nico winced and promised to do her best, though she was sure she was the worst person for the job.

“Chase?” She called as she cautiously knocked on his door. She heard no response, so she knocked a little louder. That prompted a grunt from inside, which Nico took as permission to enter. She opened the door and nearly gagged on the stench that emanated from the crack, like unwashed boy and old pizza. The last thing she wanted to was subject herself to that but she steeled herself to do so anyway.

Chase looked up over his shoulder from where he was hunched at his desk as Nico poked her head in, holding her breath. She wrinkled her nose at the sight of multiple pizza boxes at his elbow. His hair was sticking up everywhere rather than in the styled way he usually wore it and he was still in his pajamas, even though it was almost 3 o’clock. He rubbed his bloodshot eyes.

“Nico?” He asked blearily.

“What the hell did you do to yourself?” Nico asked, unable to keep the horror out of her voice. “Did something happen? Are you ok?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m fine. Just working on something.” He held up his Ipad, displaying a page full of sketches.

“Your mom said you haven’t left your room in days. She’s not the only one who’s worried, you hermit.”

“I’m inspired,” Chase defended himself. He spun his chair around to face Nico fully and in the process knocked over the stack of pizza boxes. Nico covered her mouth as the crusts fell out all over his floor making the stench worse.

“You’re disgusting,” she said as he scrambled to pick up the mess.

“Hey, it’s summer and all my friends are busy. Can you blame a guy for following his muse?”

“When you follow it into destitution, yes,” Nico said, eyes roaming over clothes crumpled on the floor rather than his perfectly functional hamper. Chase was in a worse state than she thought. She was even more convinced that reconnecting him with Gert was the right thing to do. “We need to fix this. There’s a party in a few days, and you’re coming with me.”

“ _ You _ got invited to a party?”

“You’re surprised?” Nico crossed her arms and Chase gulped.

“No. I just meant you’re going?”

“Every once in a while, one must partake in the idiocy of teenagedom,” Nico said. “I’m not going to let you atrophy this summer, so you’re going, too.”

“I think that’s a little dramatic,” Chase said. Nico grit her teeth, unwilling to keep arguing a point she didn’t think Chase would budge on. She switched tactics.

“Will you go with me because there’s safety in numbers? I don’t want to go alone.”

“Ask Alex to go, if you’re worried.”

“Do you really think Alex is much protection? He’s the king of video games but I think in real life even I could throw a better punch.”

“Good point.” Chase finished stacking the last pizza box and rocked back on his heels. “I guess if you really want to go, I’ll come with.” Nico allowed herself a small smile at the victory. Her part of their plan was all but accomplished.

“Alright. Just promise me you’ll shower beforehand. I can smell you from here.” Chase immediately sniffed his shirt. His nose wrinkled as if noticing his smell for the first time.

“I have no qualms with making that promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Molly fs thinks she just walked in on a deanoru date lmao


End file.
